Anno Regni Georgii II. Regis Magnae Britanniae, Franciae, & Hiberniae, Vicesimo Secumndo. At the Parliament Begun and Holden at Westminster, the Tenth day of November, Anno Domini 1747...An Act for Amending, Explaining, and Reducing into One Act of Parliament, the Laws relating to the Government of His Majesty's Ships, Vessels, and Forces by Sea by [GREAT BRITAIN] [GEORGE III] - 1780

London: Charles Eyre and William Strahan, 1780. Small 4to. 62pp. Full dark blue morocco, gilt, gilt inner dentelles; cover embellished with gilt-tooled Star, Garter, Royal Motto, and royal initials of King George III. In a custom clamshell box, gilt leather label. Provenance: King George III (arms in gilt) In a Full Royal Binding for George III, with an Astounding Provenance Two Acts of Parliament concerning the Navy and Naval Affairs which have been specially bound for King George III. The first act, passed under George II, explains and condenses several Acts of Parliament into one clearer and more manageable act. The second act, paginated continuously but with its own titlepage, is an act to explain and amend the previous act. We locate one copy on OCLC, at the Society of the Cincinnati. This work does not appear to be listed in the ESTC. This copy is remarkably of note due to its provenance. The binding is stamped with the arms and initials of King George III, tooled in the Star and Garter and topped with a crown. The front endpapers bear many bookplates, beginning with the bookplate of the Duke of Sussex, son of George III and the most famous book collector among his sons, with a clipping from the Sussex auction. Here it was evidently bought by his brother, the Duke of Clarence, and has his bookplate; a naval officer most of his life, he would have been particularly interested in the subject. Clarence later became William IV, and the volume passed to the First Earl of Munster, illegitimate son of William IV and his mistress Dorothy Jordan. Although he was treated well and made a member of the Privy Council by his cousin Victoria, the Earl killed himself in 1842. The volume was acquired by the 2nd Lord Stanley of Aderley, a prominent political figure and well-known collector. From the Stanley family the volume passed to another famous English book collector, Robert Hovenden, who made a fortune in the wig business and spent his profits on books. After him it was owned by Dr. Francis Gray Smart, another collector and antiquary. Sometime after Smart's death in 1913, the volume came into the hands of the great English collector Major J.R. Abbey, best remembered for his great bibliographies of English illustrated works (his collections now reside at the Yale Center for British Art). Abbey's penciled notes are on the flyleaf. This volume was sold with his remaining books and manuscripts at auction in the late 1960s. A wonderful volume with a truly stupendous provenance. OCLC 70821711.